hunterbishop.com

Mahalos to the Hawaii Island Journal readers who named this blog and Aaron Stene’s Kona Blog the "Best of Hawaii Island" in the current issue. (It's on newsstands now but not online, so no link yet, but an image of the article is posted here to the right.) I'm flattered and gratified by the recognition of the impact this little corner of the Internet has made locally in just over a year.

I have to say however I wasn’t especially pleased  with the emphasis on the negative in describing my efforts. But any mention is better than none, right?

In a brief interview, HIJ Editor Peter Serafin only asked questions that solicited the responses that were published. The matter of my mistake about Carolyn Lucas, the fact that I don’t publish all comments submitted to the blog, and catching someone abusing the privilege of anonymity from a County computer, all are matters familiar to regular readers of the blog since they were each addressed here previously.

But had Serafin asked, I would have welcomed the opportunity also to trumpet the highlights of my first year in the blogosphere. So I'll just give myself that opportunity now.

Chief among this blog's accomplishments was publishing the pilikia in Councilwoman Emily Naeole’s Fifth District office that led to positive changes that will benefit almost everyone she represents in Puna. That brought me some heat from the Councilwoman and her supporters but, really, is there anyone who thinks we would have been better off had Naeole kept Barbara Hale on as her legislative aide while attempting to cover up and smooth over Hale’s treachery and misdeeds? This blog's exposure of the whole affair exposed Hale for who she really is and freed Naeole of the burden of Hale's distractions so that the proper business of the district could proceed.

The blog's reporting of the Hale affair was an example of what the traditional press should be doing but does not, and it was an example of how the phenomenon of blogging can play an ever increasing role in the local political process. And while I'm beating my own drum,  I'm also proud of the political coverage of the local Puna political campaigns which included accurate predictions of the results. Here again this represented a depth of coverage that  previously did not exist in the traditional media or anywhere else.

Yet I must acknowledge that the success of the blog isn't all my doing. I am continually amazed and gratified by the contributions of those who post their own comments and take an active part part in the discussions. They are what give the blog its vigor and energy. Thanks to all of you for helping to make the blog, and by extension the community, a richer place.

Also congratulations to my friend the irascible Aaron Stene. We don’t always agree but I admire his bulldog tenacity and strong opinions which make him a valuable contributor to the Big Island political scene.

The only thing that bugs me about HIJ (aside from misspelling the word "gaffe" in the story on blogs) and its sister paper, the Honolulu Weekly, is the delay in putting their current issues online until the next one comes out. By that time it's old news. It's why there's no link yet to the "Best of Hawaii Island" articles. It's about time the alternative weeklies realize that the value of their online presence is practically lost when the content is a couple of weeks old. But other than that I think they are fine publications. Their readers certainly have impeccable judgement.